An unprecedented account of the long-term cultural and political influences that Mexican-Americans will have on the collective character of our nation.In considering the largest immigrant group in American history, Gregory Rodriguez examines the complexities of its heritage and of the racial and cultural synthesis--mestizaje--that has defined the Mexican people since the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. He persuasively argues that the rapidly expanding Mexican American integration into the mainstream is changing not only how Americans think about race but also how we envision our nation. Brilliantly reasoned, highly thought provoking, and as historically sound as it is anecdotally rich, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds is a major contribution to the discussion of the cultural and political future of the United States.

"Without a doubt, Tomas Jimenez has written the single most important contemporary academic study on Mexican American assimilation. Clear-headed, crisply written, and free of ideological bias, Replenished Ethnicity is an extraordinary breakthrough in our understanding of the largest immigrant group in the history of the United States. Bravo!"--Gregory Rodriguez, author of Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America "Tomas Jimenez's Replenished Ethnicity brilliantly navigates between the two opposing perils in the study of Mexican Americans--pessimistically overracializing them or optimistically overassimilating them. This much-needed and gracefully written book illuminates the on-the-ground situations of the later generations of this key American group, insightfully identifying and analyzing the unique factor operating in its case: more or less continuous immigration for more than a century. Jimenez's work provides a landmark for all future studies of Latin American incorporation into U.S. society."--Richard Alba, author of Remaking the American Mainstream "Tomas Jimenez's study adds a much-needed but long absent element to our understanding of how immigration contributes to the construction and reproduction of Mexican American ethnicity even as it continuously evolves. His work provides useful and needed detail that are absent even from the most reliable surveys."--Rodolfo de la Garza, Columbia University "In a masterful piece of social science, Tomas Jimenez debunks allegations about slow social and cultural assimilation of Mexican Americans through a richly textured ethnographic account of Mexican Americans' lived experiences in two communities with distinct immigration experiences. Population replenishment via immigration, he claims, maintains distinctiveness of established Mexican origin generations via infusion of cultural elixir-in varying doses over time and place. Ironically, it is the vast heterogeneity of Mexican Americans-generational depth, socioeconomic, national origin and legal-that both contributes to the population's ethnic uniqueness and yet defies singular theoretical frameworks. Jimenez's page-turner uses the Mexican American ethnic prism to re-interpret the U.S. ethnic tapestry and revise the canonical view of assimilation. Replenished Ethnicity sets a high bar for second generation scholarship about Mexican Americans."--Marta Tienda, The Office of Population Research at Princeton University

What would be the odds of a poor Mexican boy who migrated with his family to southern California in the 1920s rising through the ranks of the American education system to become the first Hispanic principal of a junior and senior high school in San Diego, the second Hispanic to be a college president in California, and to serve in the administrations of four U.S. presidents? Armando Rodriguez spoke no English when he first set foot in the United States and was just old enough to start school in a district with few Spanish-speaking teachers. But with parents who emphasized the importance of education and who taught him the value of hard work, Armando Rodriguez became fluent in English, received a doctorate in bilingual education, and was instrumental in developing the field of bilingual education while serving as Assistant Commissioner of Education for the nation. Rodriguez recalls his inspirational journey from a short child who was so dark he was nicknamed "Shadow" to being influential in shaping education on district, state, and national levels. Some still call him Shadow, though it is now spoken with respect and admiration for an immigrant who overcame many obstacles to become an instrument of change for his country. "Armando Rodriguez offers the gift of his fascinating life in this timely and candid autobiography of a poor immigrant child who arrived speaking no English and climbed the entire staircase of the American dream to power in Washington."--Eleanor Holmes Norton

A study of the racial-ethnic history of the United States and the perpetuation of racial hierarchy. Race is a known fiction—there is no genetic marker that indicates someone’s race—yet the social stigma of race endures. In the United States, ethnicity is often positioned as a counterweight to race, and we celebrate our various hyphenated-American identities. But Vilna Bashi Treitler argues that we do so at a high cost: ethnic thinking simply perpetuates an underlying racism. In The Ethnic Project, Bashi Treitler considers the ethnic history of the United States from the arrival of the English in North America through to the present day. Tracing the histories of immigrant and indigenous groups—Irish, Chinese, Italians, Jews, Native Americans, Mexicans, Afro-Caribbeans, and African Americans—she shows how each negotiates America’s racial hierarchy, aiming to distance themselves from the bottom and align with the groups already at the top. But in pursuing these “ethnic projects” these groups implicitly accept and perpetuate a racial hierarchy, shoring up rather than dismantling race and racism. Ultimately, The Ethnic Project shows how dangerous ethnic thinking can be in a society that has not let go of racial thinking. Praise for The Ethnic Project “An outstanding work that makes an important contribution to our understanding of the past and present racial history of the United States. The book is very well written (Bashi Treitler’s prose is a delight to read) and meticulously researched . . . . The Ethnic Project should definitely be part of the conversation as we press forward with the task of understanding race in the United States.” —Ashley “Woody” Doane, American Journal of Sociology “Treitler offers a succinct history and diagnosis of racial grouping in the U.S., from the nation’s origin to the contemporary moment . . . . The text has solid promise as an introductory ethnic studies course reading . . . . Highly recommended.” —N. B. Barnd, CHOICE “With her ingenious concept of ‘ethnic projects,’ Vilna Bashi Treitler brings a new optic to the study of race . . . . [and] provides an authoritative answer to those who ask the tired question, ‘We made it, why haven’t they?’” —Stephen Steinberg, author of Race Relations: A Critique “Treitler masterfully weaves race and ethnicity into a single historical narrative that reveals the ugly reality of exploitation and stratification that has always undergirded American society.” —Douglas S. Massey, Princeton University

In an ironic reversal of the American dream, a staggering 20,000 members of the immigrant community of Midwood, Brooklyn (known as Little Pakistan), voluntarily left the United States after 9/11. Tram Nguyen reveals the human cost of the domestic war on terror and examines the impact of post-9/11 policies on people targeted because of immigration status, nationality, and religion. Nguyen’s evocative narrative reporting--about the families, detainees, local leaders, community advocates, and others living on the front lines--tells the stories of people who witnessed and experienced firsthand the unjust detainment or deportation of family members, friends, and neighbors. We meet Mohammad Butt, who died in detention in New Jersey, and the Saleems, who flee Queens for Canada. We even follow a self-proclaimed ’citizen patroller’ who monitors and detains immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. We Are All Suspects Now, in the words of Mike Davis, “takes us inside a dark world . . . where the American Dream is fast turning into a nightmare and suggests proactive responses to stop our growing climate of xenophobia, intimidation, and discrimination."

Hispanics comprise one of America's largest business-minded, faith-based, culturally-conservative entities—and their numbers continue to grow. Long assumed to be aligned with the Democrats, Hispanics have been ignored by many Republicans. Noted Hispanic marketing expert and political commentator Leslie Sanchez passionately argues that Hispanics, after years of watching Democrats fail them, need to shift their bets to Los Republicanos or risk gambling away their political future. In her book, Sanchez debunks the cultural and political myths about Hispanics and Republicans alike. She also offers a look at today's changing Hispanic mindset and the new dynamic force that is rising.

Reproduction of the original: Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams